


Better Without You

by braindelete



Category: Iron Man (Comic), Marvel 616
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Gen, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 03:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braindelete/pseuds/braindelete
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony realizes he needs to end a relationship before it ends him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Without You

It was a love affair really. This was the kind of love that came around once in a lifetime to sweep a man off his feet and leave him wanting more. Every single meeting breathless and excited with just a hint of lust. This was a love you smell on your clothes and your skin long after the good-bye. A secret lover within a hidden place, private meetings in public arenas, a sort of affair with something special. These were all descriptions that could be used, but never seemed to capture the feeling completely.

She was a foul mistress. She chose her prey wisely and without a moment of hesitation. She played well on weakness and demons haunting those she chased. With Tony Stark it wasn’t so much of a chase as a capture; it was simple and quick, she had him before he even knew he was interested. A simple taste that lingered on his lips and tongue sweet and tangy to ensure that he would always come back for more. He found himself easily tempted by her aroma; savoring her taste before he even grasped her concept because he was an easy catch.

An addiction can present itself as many things. People are either swept up or carried away by an action, a desire and a need for something in their lives so much that it controls their very being. Then there are those who watch it play before their eyes as if it were happening to someone else. The addiction nips away at little pieces never quite making its presence known until one big massive bite brings realization to the surface. She was this second form of addiction. A taste here, a binge there and before Tony was aware he was in a love that swept up, tackled and destroyed. He belonged to her.

She was smooth but her touch burned ever so slightly, her influence a vice grip on his senses tainting them with her mark from his lazy touch, his hazy sight, muffled hearing, a palate that could only taste her and his nostrils filled with her flavor. The never ending tranquilizer that masked Tony’s thoughts leaving him nothing but clay for her power to shape and mold into a different sort of man than he had been.

A curved bottle with a label glued to the rounded side like a tight dress hugging all the places a garment should. This bottle was his temptress. This bottle was his weakness. This was something to be coveted; memories empty bottles lined on the shelf in his dorm like trophies. A full cabinet of varieties from the most common vodka to the rarest liquors found in exotic countries imported for a small fortune to impress guests. This was his love on the rocks.

The old cliché says the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Tony didn’t see the problem as clearly as those around him. Perhaps his fate was sealed by her siren song like a sailor lost at sea doomed to meet his grizzly demise on the rocks from which she sang. If this was addiction, maybe he liked being afflicted. Even as the allure cost him real love of a good woman, friendships with good men and destroyed lives of countless other people, he was not swayed from it’s coaxing.

Tony Stark sat waiting in an empty room of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Hollywood, California with a Styrofoam coffee cup in his hand, his blurry eyes fixed on the poster before him clearly made in mass production by a company that specialized in the inspirational tokens. God grant me the serenity to except the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

“Tony?”

The voice surprised him. He gave the poster a last look before turning to look at the man who'd spoken. There beside him, with his hand on Tony’s shoulder stood Henry Hellrung, just as Tony had hoped he’d be. Henry looked both surprised and pleased to see him sitting there already working on the cup of coffee.

“Hey, Henry. I was in the neighborhood, thought I’d drop in and say hello.” Tony replied, attempting to sound nonchalant and not defeated.

Henry didn’t buy it but was kind enough not to call Tony on it.

“Well, welcome. We should catch up after this, yeah?”

Tony nodded. “Henry?”

Henry sat beside him. “Yeah?”

“I’m an alcoholic.”

Henry didn’t say anything, simply placed an arm around Tony’s shoulders, pulling him slightly inward. For that moment, Tony felt a bit more comfortable with the choice he was about to make.


End file.
